Anthon van Rappard Acquired by RISD Museum

We are delighted to announce that the RISD Museum at the Rhode Island School of Design has acquired Three Brush makers and a Bookkeeper in the Institute for the Blind in Utrecht by the Dutch artist, Anthon van Rappard (1858-1892). The pastel was acquired through the Esther Mauran Acquisitions Fund. We featured the work at The Winter Show in New York City in January 2026.

While van Rappard may be best known for his early friendship with Vincent van Gogh, when the two artists travelled together in Holland between 1881-1885, it was his realist depictions of factory workers, laborers and inhabitants of poor houses that marked his career. In two separate campaigns in 1881 and later in 1891, van Rappard shifted his focus by concentrating on the patients at Utrecht’s Institute for the Blind. Here, he keenly observed the assigned tasks of the blind knitters, basket weavers and brush makers. The RISD pastel dates from 1891 and poignantly displays van Rappard’s empathy toward his sitters by depicting the three blind patients with great dignity and individuality. 

We are thrilled that this very special work of art will now be on display at the RISD Museum in Providence, Rhode Island.